[Lapg] Declan Kennedy Upcoming Talks Eco-Villages and the Global Future In California Oct 10-17 2006 LA, Santa Barbara and Lafayette

[Wesley Roe and Marjorie Lakin Erickson]

NOTE see detail of talks in Los Angeles 14 , Santa Barbara Oct 14, 15 and 
Oct 17 Lafayette  California
  details below

Contact: Margie Bushman
Santa Barbara Permaculture Network
(805) 962-2571, email: margie at sbpermaculture.org

SANTA BARBARA PERMACULTURE NETWORK
Presents:
Eco-Villages and the Global Future

Evening Lecture Sat, Oct 14, 7:30 pm, 2006
Workshop, Sunday, Oct 15, 10 -4pm
Location: Santa Barbara City College

At the Environmental Summit in Rio in 1992, leading politicians from all 
over the world laid down principles for a sustainable lifestyle in the 21st 
century. What will promote and initiate this hopeful future?

The Eco-village movement has been at the forefront of an effort to design 
human settlements in a way that could transform our lives. Based on 
ecological design, they say yes to a positive future, while considering the 
possibility of less resources to maintain our present over-consumptive 
lifestyles.

Join Professor Declan Kennedy (www.declan.de) as he defines and explores 
the concept of Eco-villages and the Eco-village movement. An exuberant man 
in his seventies, Prof Kennedy has had many careers, beginning with dance 
and choreography, making the leap to architectecture and urban planning, 
then incorporating permaculture & Eco-village design into his life’s work.

An Eco-Village is a human-scale, full-featured settlement, in which human 
activities are harmlessly integrated into the natural world in a way that 
is supportive of healthy human development and can be successfully 
continued into the indefinite future. Eco-Village design is based mainly on 
permaculture principles and is a way of thinking to create an abundant 
future. By conscious design, we can build homes and buildings that conserve 
natural resources, make agriculture ecologically sound, reforest the planet 
and restore community life in rural and urban areas

Prof. Kennedy is an Irish architect, urban planner, permaculture designer 
and ecologist, co-founder of the Permaculture Institute of Europe and of 
the Global Eco-Village Network (GEN). He has been teaching and practicing 
ecological urban design since 1972 and permaculture for the past 20 years 
and was Professor of Urban Design and Infrastructure at the Architectural 
Department of the Technical University of Berlin. He served as Secretariat 
to the United Nations for the Global Ecovillage Network (GEN). His present 
activities include working on the urban design for the first full-fledged 
ecological settlement in Ireland, and most recently assisting the Gaia 
University (www.gaiauniversity.org) in establishing its international 
advisory board. He lives with his wife Margrit Kennedy, in Steyerberg 
Germany, at Lebensgarten, an eco-village they helped co-found in 1985.

The evening lecture takes place Saturday, Oct 14, 7:30pm, at the Santa 
Barbara City College West Campus, in the Fe Bland Auditorium, 721 Cliff 
Drive. Cost is $10/$5 students, no reservations are needed. For more 
information, please call (805) 962-2571, email, margie at sbpermaculture.org, 
or visit www.sbpermaculture.org.
Sponsors: Santa Permaculture Network, Santa Barbara Ecological Education 
Coalition SBCC Adult Education Series(SBEEC), ,Hopedance Media, and For the 
Future.

***Workshop, Sun Oct 15, 10am-4 pm, $30/$20 Students, Location, SB City 
College Earth & Biological Science Building (EBS), Room, 309, East Campus, 
721 Cliff Dr, Santa Barbara.

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Declan Kennedy Upcoming Talks In California Oct 2006


Tuesday, October 10, 2006 at 7:30 pm at L.A. Eco-Village
DECLAN KENNEDY
gives a talk and slideshow on Urban and Rural Ecovillages Around the World
Fee: $10 (sliding scale ok)
Reservations: 213/738-1254 or <crsp at igc.org>
About Declan
Prof. Declan Kennedy is an Irish architect, urban planner, permaculture 
designer and ecologist, co-founder of the Permaculture Institute of Europe 
and of the Global Village Network (GEN). He has been teaching and 
practicing ecological urban design since 1972 and permaculture for the past 
20 years and was Professor of Urban Design and Infrastructure at the 
Architectural Department of the Technical University of Berlin. Presently, 
he is doing the urban design for the first full-fledged ecological 
settlement in Ireland. He now teaches eco-village design from the 
ecological community Lebensgarten Steyerberg, G

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FRIDAY OCT 13 RADIO INTERVIEW WITH DECLAN KENNEDY (9AM- 10AM)
Sustainable World Radio: Friday mornings at 9:00 am PST, and Monday 
afternoons at
12:00 pm PST on KCSB 91.9 FM in Santa Barbara, California. Also, streaming 
live
worldwide on www.KCSB.org.
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Oct 14 Sat 10am Complementary Currency! Myth or a Must solution for your 
community?
with Prof Declan Kennedy Donation $5-$10
Santa Monica Public Library, The Martin Luther King Auditorium
Designing Complementary Currencies. Applications, practical implementations 
and issues will be discussed. Learn how to benefit from techniques 
successfully implemented in Europe and in more than 2700 communities around 
the world and the USA.
This informative presentation will be followed by a game simulating the use 
of local money as a permaculture tool to create community, jobs and fight 
inflation. He will use Silverlake neighborhood as a model.
The library is located on Santa Monica Blvd. at 6th street in Downtown 
Santa Monica. Parking, entrance on 7th street
Contact David Kahn <info at sustainablehabitats.org> 1-323-667-1330
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ECOVILLAGES AND THE GLOBAL FUTURE WITH PROF DECLAN KENNEDY

Sat Oct 14 7:30 pm Urban and Rural Ecovillages Around the World Slide Show 
and talk with Declan Kennedy
Santa Barbara City College West Campus, Fe Bland Auditorium, 721 Cliff 
Drive . Santa Barbara $5-10 Donation

Sunday Oct 15 10-4pm (Urban & Rural) Ecovillages and the Global Future 
Workshop with Declan Kennedy,
Cost $30 /student $20

Santa Barbara City College Earth and Biological Science Building, Room ESB 
309 East Campus Santa Barbara 721 Cliff Drive
An Eco-Village is a human-scale, full-featured settlement, in which human 
activities are harmlessly integrated into the natural world in a way that 
is supportive of healthy human development and can be successfully 
continued into the indefinite future. Eco-Village design is based mainly on 
permaculture principles and is a way of thinking to create an abundant 
future. By conscious design, we can reverse desertification, make 
agriculture ecologically sound, reforest the planet and restore community 
life in rural and urban areas.

Prof. Declan Kennedy www.declan.de is an architect, city planer and 
permaculture designer and lives in Lebensgarten Ecovillage Germany. 
Professor of Urban Design and Infrastructure at the Architectural 
Department of the Technical University of Berlin. He has been teaching and 
practicing ecological architectural design since 1970 and permaculture 
design since 1982, both in various universities.He did research on 
implemented examples of main stream ecological settlements in Europe for 
the European Academy of the Urban Environment, Berlin. European Secretariat 
of the Global Eco-village Network (GEN) and is Founding Chairman of the GEN 
Board and Advisory Board Chairperson of Gaia University www.gaiauniversity.org

Contact margie at sbpermaculture.org 805-962-2571 www.sbpermaculture.org

Cosponsored Santa Barbara Permaculture Network, Santa Barbara Ecological 
Education Coalition/SBCC Adult Education Series, and Hopedance Media and SB 
City College Students for Sustainability Coalition

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Oct 17th - Tues at 6:00 PM DECLAN KENNEDY - Designing eco-villages around 
the world
Potluck dinner, presentation and discussion with the founder the European 
Permaculture Institute and one of the most enthusiastic promoters of 
sustainable living.
Sponsored by: Friendly Favors and Institute of Noetic Sciences and Gaia 
University Network and Global Ecovillage Network
Location: At the Swatts - 1234 Cambridge Dr, Lafayette, CA - 925-932-0434
For RSVP , directions and carpooling go to www.favors.org/FF > Events
www.declan.de/Englische/index_en.htm
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ARTICLE

Eco-village Movement


Declan Kennedy
Dublin, Ireland & Steyerberg, Germany


".... anything a human being or animal does, whether it is just to make a 
sound or take a step, leaves permanent, never-dying impression on the 
processes and physical substrate of the Earth. Because humans exert so much 
more power than animals, the lasting impressions we make on the planet are 
much greater than theirs. Consequently, whenever we make some permanent 
change in the Earth, disturb some harmony, it is our responsibility to make 
some other change that will restore the harmony."
Life in the Next Millennium - David Ehrenfield



What is an Eco-Village?


At the Environmental Summit in Rio in 1992 , leading politicians from all 
over the world laid down principles for a sustainable lifestyle in the 
2lst. Century. The Eco-Village movement rose to these challenges and in 
implementing Agenda 21 - the Earth Summit's plan for action - those 
involved in building up their own eco-village took it upon themselves so to 
say - to practice a detailed Agenda 21 on a day-to-day basis.

An eco-village can be seen as a modern settlement where humans live in 
harmony and co-operation with nature, testing new experiments, new 
technologies and new skills designed to create a more endurable, peaceful 
and diverse way of life.

The criteria for an eco-village is based on the five Elements of
• Fire,
• Water,
• Air,
• Earth and
• the quintessence of these first four which might be called the Ether.
These include:
- celebration and ritual;
- environmentally friendly production of goods and food;
- ecologically benign jobs and working conditions;
- building biology - creating buildings that enhance our health;
- democratic decision-making by the members and
- service and education to the larger surrounding community.

When building up an eco-village, ecology like architecture can be 
design-oriented and include social and political strategies. Using an 
ecological approach many elements come together to achieve abundance, 
diversity and wealth. When these different ecological streams converge, 
they call for integration and holistic action.

Many eco-villages around the world have been organising themselves for a 
possible breakdown of economic and societal systems. This could result from 
our current economic thinking, which is based on greed and scarcity and is 
playing havoc with our environment and the basis of all life ( see 
www.margritkennedy.de)

Ecovillages are like pioneer plants and nurture the idea of sustainable 
abundance. They spring up at a place where the potential already exists for 
their healthy growth. They grow slowly but surely and let their fruits and 
leaves fall off around them to enrich their surroundings and to create the 
basis for new growth. When the climax of the forest comes they have already 
become Main-stream, bringing their process and power into the whole system.

"What is an eco-village?" is an on-going discussion within the Global 
Eco-Village Network. You are welcome to send your contribution on this 
subject to the GEN-Europe secretariat in Scotland. Contact: Jonathan 
Dawson, GEN-Europe Secretariat, Findhorn Foundation, Forres, e-mail: 
info at gen-europe.org or consult: www.ecovillage.org

Sustainable Design for Life Support Systems

The term "Sustainable Design" defines a design method which enhances the 
linear sectoral organisation of human support systems (such as: 
agriculture, energy and water management, architecture, urban planning, 
education, recreation, administration, etc.) - in order to create linkages 
between the various elements needed for each specific task. Thus each 
element endeavours to support the function of all others - similar to the 
way in which highly developed organisms work. The results are often stunning.
Both in urban and rural settings, as in Permaculture, sustainable villages 
demonstrate how the optimisation of the overall "yield" saves work (i.e. 
time and energy) and creates beauty, flexibility and responsiveness. 
Applied on a larger scale, with the help of the eco-village movement, we 
could create abundance everywhere in the world. All we need is human 
intelligence, courage and insight.
Eco-Village design, based mainly on permaculture principles, is a way of 
thinking to create an abundant future. By conscious design, we can reverse 
desertification, make agriculture ecologically sound, reforest the planet 
and restore community life - even in urban areas. The contribution of these 
intentional communities is vital. An eco-village concept could be called a 
system for creating productive, diverse and sustainable communities - and 
for creating ecological architecture both of which are essential to support 
stable life on this planet. It is based on the observation of nature and 
traditional building systems, but uses modern methods and technologies as 
long as they are benign.
The essence of nature is abundance. Nature is generous. Not because she 
feels good to be generous, but because she is in her being generous. Nature 
does not worry if the children or the animals (she provides for) are 
morally okay or not. Nature allows everyone a share in her wealth. That is 
unless these people cut themselves off from their share by expecting too 
little or taking too much.
If lots of people manage to take things into their own hands and improve 
their relationships to Nature - through permaculture, citizen participation 
in ecological rural and urban renewal or any other similar awareness system 
- if they begin designing with Nature, with abundance in mind - which is 
there all the time - then the provision of food and shelter for all people 
on this planet could be improved immensely.
Daily the media remind us of the world’s ecological and economic crises, 
and of the serious disparities between the rich and poor peoples of the 
world. An eco-village - as a solution - not only speaks about ecology - but 
has a very strong economic emphasis. What is less apparent - is that the 
present money, land and tax systems create a societal framework that 
directly contributes to these problems and to the exploitation of nature 
and our fellow human beings. Thus the solution to our problems must involve 
fundamental change.
(1) How our present monetary system creates or contributes to the chronic 
poverty of developing regions and the economic and environmental ills of 
industrialized regions;
(2) That introducing a circulation fee or demurrage instead of interest is 
an alternative that has been successfully tried in different areas of the 
world;
(3) How complementary reforms in monetary, land, and tax systems contribute 
to the solution of these problems, especially the unemployment and 
under-employment situation arising out of globalization.
Social justice, ecological survival, and human freedom are threatened where 
societal structures tend to work against these goals. The proposed reforms 
combine the advantages of capitalism and communism. They promote freedom 
and enterprise while at the same time promoting social justice and 
ecological protection.
Some eco-villages or the bio-region around them - in the 
not-so-industrialized world - would be very good places to do a regional 
experiment - and there is very little for them to loose, at present, seeing 
as how the interest payments to the so-called developed world are ruining 
their economies. The inhabitants of these areas could show the world how it 
could be done. The concentration of central powers is historically a land, 
tax and money problem rather than racial or social-class one. If these 
eco-villages succeed in creating a balanced system, the incentive for 
self-reliance would be greater for whole regions.

Designing as a game
Designing is a big game - and gaming is also a way to get a new 
understanding of solutions. By gaming I mean to go at things in a playful 
way. To play with the design tasks, for instance, or to play at running 
your own decision-making processes, can mean to improvise and/or just let 
things happen. We can set up rules - or subordinate ourselves to certain 
regulations, knowing well that they are not absolute or binding forever, 
but have a certain value within the game we are playing. Playing is the 
highest form of activity - it is one of the original activities of the 
universe. It is the way it came into being.
Gaming means then, here, to pull down the level of seriousness - especially 
with what we are doing at the moment - or that which lies directly ahead of 
us, i.e.
- for the tasks that have to be mastered, here and now,
and
- for the things we expect to happen in the immediate future.

Eco-village design can also mean doing things in quite a different way that 
we are used to, for example:
• looking at a problem from another angle;
• transforming problems into solutions;
• putting them on another level of understanding or
• bringing them together in a new realm of action.
Although eco-village design has to do with “doing” and with “uses”, this 
type of playful approach could be defined as doing something that makes 
connection between needs and action.
In childhood you had certain times and certain situations where you did 
useful things playfully. It often contributed later to your ability to 
understand or learn something. I appeal to you to include this type of 
gaming - of playfulness - in your ecological design. It helps people to 
empower themselves to do what they think is good for Nature. It shows that 
we can do something new - in a complete way - on this playing field. There 
is really nothing that binds us down. Everything that seems to bind us, we 
have created ourselves
- partly, to create stopping points
- partly, to make the game more interesting - but
- partly, to create our own barriers so that we can show our prowess, as 
the architects seemingly need to do continually.
But the great news about playing with ecological practices is that we begin 
to recognize the extent of our freedom.

Nature is our freedom - and freedom is our nature.
This is a time at which the need for major structural change in the world’s 
ecological systems is becoming evident to increasing numbers of people. The 
reforms proposed here will not solve all the world’s ills. They could be, 
however, a critical component of the necessary social and economic 
transformation of local areas and of the planet.



Prof. Declan Kennedy www.declan.de is an Irish architect, city planer and 
permaculture designers. He is founding member of the Permaculture Institute 
of Europe. He has been teaching and practicing ecological architectural 
design since 1970 and permaculture design since 1982, both in various 
universities and in special seminars organized in many European countries. 
He works in private practice as ecological urban planner and consultant, 
and is, at the same time, implementing all five zones of permaculture in a 
project in Steyerberg, Germany, where he is member of the eco-village 
Lebensgarten. In the 1990’s, he did research on implemented examples of 
main stream ecological settlements in Europe for the European Academy of 
the Urban Environment, Berlin. Later, he ran the European Secretariat of 
the Global Eco-village Network (GEN) and is Founding Chairman of the GEN 
Board. At present, beside his activities as a spiritual healing and 
mediator, his is assisting the Gaia University in establishing its 
International Advisory Board www.gaiauniversity.org






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